How High Was the Bar?

So how did Mitt Romney do tonight? I think it depends on how high the bar was. If he needed to deliver a virtuoso performance, it didn’t happen (that was last night). If he needed to portray himself as a decent, highly competent guy who would make a solid president, I think cleared that bar.

I don’t believe he needed a virtuoso performance.

Given Romney’s solid speech, Paul Ryan’s great one, and whatever other of the many good nuggets folks might have seen, the Republicans probably leave Tampa good to go. That doesn’t mean they will prevail in November — more hurdles need to be cleared between now and then, most notably the debates.

But the Republicans cleared this week’s hurdle with aplomb and in doing so converted it, I hope, into something of a springboard.